Elayne too, and Nynaeve didn't think much of her. I always assumed it was just their naivity - Egwene and Nynaeve still judging the world by Two Rivers standards (does anyone else think 'good Two Rivers woolens' are more about warmth than modesty? It's cold around there) and Elayne being jealous over Rand. Elayne, though she would have been raised knowing her marriage was a means to an end, would have unquestioningly assumed that she would enter into any such relationship from a position of strength. None of the three of them knew anything about the political realities of being a weak woman ruler with only beauty and guile for weapons.

Egwene, at least, should overcome that bias if she ever stops to think about it. Her own time as a 'novice' in the Tower was very similar, in principle, to what Berelain had to do. Her only weapons were her mind and her white dress, and she allowed her body to both be beaten and used for labour because it was the only way to succeed. You do what you have to do.